By Duane Dailey

Cow herd owners know more tools to boost production and profits than they use. This isn’t off in the future. It’s here. It’s now. Reproduction, making calves, and genomics, improving quality, are in use, successfully, by early adopters.

In fact, Missourians lead. Some have done this for 20 years.

These tools separate those who thrive from those who will be driven out. The signals are market prices already offered.

The beef business has changed. An unmet demand grows for high-quality beef. There’s a huge supply of meat on the market, and more is coming. The best demand is for beef, Prime beef.

That’s not just U.S. consumers. It’s a world market.

Missouri beef herd owners are better situated than anyone in the world. Many know that.

More cows bring more beef
The January cow count reports Show-Me cow numbers up 5% over year ago. The U.S. cow herd grew only 1%.

The market doesn’t demand more cows. We have plenty of cows. What’s lacking are quality cows making Prime-grade calves. A business plan to meet that need isn’t beyond Missouri farmers. We have it.

Missouri sits ideally north to south and east to west. We have lots of land suited for forage and for beef herds. Supplements are near.

University of Missouri animal scientists promote tools for making what’s needed. An MU Extension reproduction specialist links up with an MU Extension geneticist. They teach methods in what are called ReproGene schools. Those started last year and will repeat in March. There will be more.

Producers can learn the way in one evening. Best of all, farmer panels will tell how they started up this new road. Payoffs are dollar premiums per calf sold.

The protocols are proven. They work. The methods require attention to details. In other words, owners must take charge. They put the bull back in his place. Profits take owner-managers.

Recipes make use simple
Farmers need not know the science, but they must follow the recipe.

Jared Decker, the genomics guru, says we’re not teaching cutting-edge science. “These tools are on the shelf, waiting to be used. They are proven,” he says.

Dave Patterson has taught his reproduction protocols for 20 years. Show-Me-Select replacement heifer producers now win at sale barns.

Sustainability comes from premium prices, such as at SMS sales. Commodity beef draws no premiums.

The newest tools come on the genetics side. DNA provides the map for success. The test to get genomic data takes pulling tail hairs or pricking blood from a calf’s ear.

It’s simple, but requires precision. But as Patterson says of timed breeding of heifers, “It’s not rocket science.” It’s following a protocol: the recipe.

2-part ReproGene combo
Repro management takes two parts. First, prebreeding exams show which heifers not to breed. They can’t deliver a live calf. That cuts death losses and adds calving ease. Fixed-time breeding with AI makes uniform calf crops and simplifies calving season. AI brings top, proven sire semen to any farm. Semen is the genetic envelope, Decker says

SMS producers who build reputations earn premiums of hundreds of dollars. Repeat buyers pay big bucks for those benefits.

To see happy beef farmers, watch those picking up checks after a Show-Me-Select Sale. Successful buyers smile also.

Now come advances in genomic premium dollars. They increase value at SMS sales. Decker added a new tier to the Show-Me Heifers.

They’re “Show-Me Plus,” with genomic tests behind their breeding. So far, those average another $150 premium. That’s above prices of proven calving potential of average SMS heifers. Prices will rise as repeat buyers learn genetic values.

Steers gain value with heifers
There’s a bonus not showing up in heifer sales. Steermates to genetics-proven heifers are worth more at the packing plant. The steer sibs carry better DNA.

Nationally, the number of USDA Prime calves at packing plants has crept up to 4%. Some SMS heifer producers sell steermates that grade 70% Prime. If you don’t follow the Prime market (it’s not reported much), you will be surprised. In the 2017 barbecue season, Prime premiums hit $60 per cwt. On a 900-pound carcass, that’s a $540 bonus. Bonuses top the Choice grade prices. Select steers aren’t in the running.

Traditionally, breeders use EPDs (expected progeny differences) to make matings. EPDs are estimates based on pedigrees and production tests. Now, genetics-enhanced EPDs add accuracy based on DNA.

GE-EPDs boost estimates
Computer programs for GE-EPDs are complex, but producers need not learn them. “Buy the right test and use as directed. Learn to trust it,” Decker says

In a meeting, Decker opened his cellphone and asked: “Do you know how this works?” No user knew. But they trust it works. That’s Decker's point: Genomics work. Just buy the right test for the breed or crossbreed.

To stay in the beef business, use genetics. Do it sooner than later. Attend a ReproGene meeting.

Early adopters of Extension lessons make more money than late adopters. That still applies. Get onboard.

Dailey is a retired MU Extension professor. He writes from his home in Columbia, Mo.